IExpress Installer
level: any
A FREE Installer Package for your EXE Programs!
- by Welopez
(While IExpress is not included with Win95, 98, and ME, Windows Installer 2.0 can be downloaded free from [http://www.microsoft.com] for those users who do not have Win 2000 or XP.)
IExpress Intaller
So now you have created your Whiz-Bang Program in Basic and you want to share it with your chums. Or perhaps you've created several programs, and now you're ready to use your talents to sell some of your more useful applications, but how do you package them as a professional looking stand-alone installation file?
There are many installer packages you can search for on the web. Try Googling for "install+creator", "install+utilities", "installer+packages," and take your pick. Many will be free, or offer a free trial. Sooner or later you will fork over $20 to $30 for a fully functional version.
Our own Alyce Watson markets an installation wizard with the LB Workshop, for a mere $20. A real bargain because it includes tons of tools to make your coding experience easier and more productive, as well as an Icon Editor for creating your custom icons, and a packaging wizard to bundle your basic programs with the runtime engine and supporting files.
Alyce has no need to frown on the competition, and recently told me about a free installer package included with Windows NT, and Windows 2000, and Windows XP. You don't have to purchase anything to create your stand-alone executable packages. One major drawback, while Alyce's LB Workshop has generous and comprehensive help files, IExpress bundled with Windows has no help at all, but I didn't let that stop me and decided to give it a test drive.
When you have finished your project and created your TKN file, bundle your program and any supporting files into a folder, not forgetting to include the runtime engine and required DLL and SLL files. You'll find a list of all required files under the help topic "Using the Runtime Engine."
Now click on START and RUN, then type in iexpress and press OK.
No sooner had I done so, an attractive young lady appeared in the center of my monitor.
"Oh, it's you, Welopez. I should have known without asking. You're the person who is always calling for those seldom used routines. I'll get it for you right away."
She poofed, but returned in less than a second. "I'm glad you came back," I said. "We were never properly introduced…"
"Oh, I'm Phyllis. My friends call me Phyllie. I'm your FAT librarian."
"Fat?" I said. "If you'll excuse me, Phyllie, but there's nothing fat about you!" I was anxious to show my dazzling wit and repartee.
"Not that kind of fat, silly. I'm in charge of the File Allocation Table for your computer, that's how I find all these seldom used files. Now, what was it you wanted to do with this one?"
"I want to create an installer package for my sales tax program, Phyllie. But I think I'm gonna need your assistance, it doesn't seem to have any help files for the program."
"Well, what do you expect with a free program, Welopez? Let's run it together. I've seen this program run a few times and perhaps I can walk you through it."
The first screen of the wizard looked like this. Phyllie told me I would have to create a new Self Extraction Directive file, the instructions tell this file how to install, so I left the radio button pushed and clicked Next.
"We want to extract the files and run them, so leave the radio button checked and click Next once more."
"Type in the name you want to appear at the top of all screens for your program, Welopez, then click Next again."
"You could ask the user to confirm they would like to install and run this file, but if they didn't, why would they have clicked on the EXE file in the first place? Let's continue."
"If you're distributing a free-ware, share-ware, or selling a program, Welopez, this is where you would insert your licensing agreement. Or you could just send me a sweet little note so I would know you're still around."
"Here's where we begin building your package. Click on ADD and then browse to the folder containing your project files."
I highlighted all the files within my folder and then asked, "Click Open, Phyllie?"
"I guess you'll have to, some things you have to do for yourself, Welopez." When all my files had been added to the package, the window looked like this.
I clicked Next again, wondering how much more there would be to finish this job.
"Use the down arrow to bring up the File Dialog and browse to the EXE file for your program, Welopez. Click Next."
Some programs have a great many files which must be installed with them, and if installation will take more than a few moments, you might want to show the installation window so the user will not think the computer has frozen and quit the process before completion. Your demo program is very small, Welopez, and won't take more than a second. Just leave it set for Default and click Next."
"Here's where you can add a message thanking the user for purchasing your product, or whatever you like. Perhaps contact information for your company. Since we don't have anything to enter here, just click Next."
"Click Browse and navigate to your project folder, Welopez, then highlight the EXE file for your program. Next."
"What is this, Phyllie, a barbershop? That's all you've been saying, 'Next!'"
"If you know the computer must be restarted before your program will be fully installed, Welopez, choose either Always restart or Only restart."
"We're nearly finished, and it will be a good idea to save a copy of this SED in case we want to edit the installer package again. It will save us a lot of time if we only need to make those changes which directly affect our installation file, instead of having to create an entirely new file." I clicked Next out of habit. This hadn't really been difficult, most of the default options could be accepted without change.
"Do you mean….?" I asked Phyllie.
"Yes, Welopez. Go ahead. It will take only a few moments."
As soon as I pushed Next, a small DOS window opened to display the creation of my executable package. There was nothing more I needed to do. At last, another screen appeared.
Loud cheers and applause! Everything went automatically and there were none of those error notices which curl my toes every time they pop up. "But where's my file, Phyllie?"
"Navigate to your program folder, Welopez. See? There it is!"
"You mean I have to send all those files to anyone who wants to use my program? Seems like we went to a lot of trouble and didn't make things even a little bit easier, Phyllie."
"No, you only send the new EXE file, Welopez. Everything else in this folder has been bundled and compressed into the EXE file, and will be installed when the user double-clicks on it."
"Hey, that is pretty good, Phyllie. The file size of the EXE file is only 1.03 MB for this program, including the runtime entine and the required SLL and DLL files. I checked the size of the folder before we created this installer file, and it was 2.6 MB, so we really did achieve some compression. What do we do now?"
"Double-click on your EXE file, Welopez."
Well, that would be a change from Next, so I double-clicked. Instantly my new program appeared on the screen!
I entered a few prices at random and was pleased to see it still worked. Why, even my custom icon appeared in the title bar, though there hadn't been enough room for all the words in Sales Tax Calculator. It still looked good and I could go back and alter the program if I thought it was important.
"I see you went into the Folder Options and changed the icon for this desktop shortcut too, Welopez." Phyllie had noticed I now had three desktop icons for programs I had written and packaged.
"Well, yes, I did, Phyllie. I'm not a very good illustrator, I just wanted to see if I could do it. But I have to admit, I cheated a wee bit. I used the Icon Editor from LB Workshop, then inserted it into the runtime engine. It was easy after doing it a few times."
"Shall I return this application to the Library," she asked.
"You might as well, Phyllie. It's nice to know it's there if I need it, and nice to know how simple it is to use. But I think Alyce's LB Workshop does a better job, has many more options, and it certainly has a bigger help file! I think I'll stick to one I'm familiar with. I know I can't be bugging you every time I need a little help, but thanks for running me through it this time.
"No problem, Welopez. If you need me again, just ask! Have a nice day now!" And she was gone.
Okay, it's good to know this program is available, and nearly all the work is done automatically, but I had been truthful with Phyllie. I think LB Workshop has more useful bells and whistles, even if it does cost a few dollars. And then there's the Icon Editor, and all those other useful tools. Thanks, Alyce!